Material: digital illustration based on an analog drawing manually animated as a cartoon ,NFT,print
Owen (Spades J )
The Underdog
Owen is the son of a farming family. He was born into it, but he never really felt comfortable with that fact. He perceived his parents' life as an unspectacular, dull and labor-intensive existence, and did not see it as a meaningful life, which his parents made out of their existence. Owen was always a bit underestimated. He was modest, didn't need attention and didn't show off, but his mind was faster, his body stronger, and his heart bigger than anyone suspected. He had a keen mind that enabled him to build incredibly complex structures, like high-priced engineers of his time. His big sister Nike ( Spades 9) also did not fit into the picture of a simple working-class family. She appeared fragile, pale, almost invisible, and was as thin and quiet as if she were not made of matter at all. It seemed to him that she was a kind of loving, silent ghost from a children's novel. For their parents, she was a cause for concern, because in addition to being mute, she constantly lost consciousness for short periods and fainted. They thought this girl was powerless and physically that may have been true, as her bones were as fragile as Venetian glass. Her mind, however, was great, greater than that of both her parents combined. Her mind was strong, and her soul was full of life and subtle joy, reflected in her shining eyes. Her constant companion was an axolotl, and Owen still doesn't know why, but it was precisely these mysteries that triggered in Owen a great admiration. "You're just different, but in a good way," he always said to her when she struggled with herself. He loved her very much and wanted to protect her from all the evil and bad in the world. Nike was a free spirit with a physical inferiority that even a wild hare would crush the bones of this girl made of glass. Yet despite everything, she was adventurous and little afraid. She ran into the woods every day. No one knew why, but since everyone was busy with work, which she was not capable of, they just let her do what she wanted. Only Owen knew exactly about every step his sister took. He had taken it upon himself to protect her and secretly followed her wherever she went. Nike had a secret friend in the woods, Zahra ( Heart 6). Zahra seemed to not speak any human language and otherwise behaved little humanly. Her appearance was breathtaking. Her long red hair fell over her entire body and playfully concealed her shame. Nike seemed to care for her and brought her clothing, taught her to write, told stories with her hands, drummed and clapped songs with her, and secretly brought her food from home. For weeks or months, Owen watched the two of them secretly. He sat for hours in the treetops hidden behind dense leaves and could hardly take his eyes off Zahra's big blue eyes and porcelain-colored skin, her long hair and her animalistic movements. At night, he sometimes returned to the woods after ensuring his sister was safely at home. He met his friends there. They were not friends from the village; they were animals from the forest and the adjacent jungle. A tiger named Groove ( Clubs 9)and a gorilla named Yasmin ( Diamond J ). They understood each other without words. What connected them was the certainty of not belonging and not fitting into where fate had placed them. Groove was a magnificent tiger in stature, but his eyes betrayed him in his childlike, naive nature, as he could not harm a fly. He would rather join a bee colony than follow the path of his own kind - he used to say. Yasmin was also a reflection of a well-grown gorilla, but the search for her true self put her in danger of her life in her family or, as gorillas call it, the harem where she grew up. Originally, Yasmin was a prince and the future heir of the harem. Owen valued the company of both of them and confided in them. He had fallen deeply in love with Zahra and wished for nothing more than to win her heart. To be continued...
A Game of Underdogs and Naked Cats.
A game everyone plays: life. Each living being draws a card. Is the story already written? Survival instincts are inherited, but knowledge and experiences remain individual. All circumstances shape life. Dirt leaves stains and stench. Weapons etch body and soul with deep scars, painting pain in a liquid form, sticky and bitter on your skin. Some are gifted with a shield of protection or wrapped in soft benevolence. Others are left with only the cold, hard ground. One has the unstoppable urge to hide, while others seek the stage, the light, and the grand performance. For some, the heart grows so large that they can hardly manage to distribute all the feelings it pumps through their veins evenly, in order not to lose consciousness. The others won't even spare a thought for the existence of a heart. Circumnavigating walls we build ourselves, ensnared in routines and drowning in processes, we live on. We smell happiness and simultaneously bite into rotten fruit. We dream of freedom and tighten our grip on objects until we can no longer walk independently. Some can fly and are fueled by envy. Some want to sleep and are envied for their determination. Everyone wants to love and confuses the path there with labor. All cards are constantly shuffled, and the game begins anew. Everything is interconnected and develops its meaning only in harmony. Everything is mad and delightful, impartial and infinite. Just as we would like it - or not?
